Jon Gooch revisits DnB alias on new 6-track Spor EP, ‘Anachronic’

July 27, 2020

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Photo credit: Rukes.

If the years were seasons, Feed Me would be winter and Spor would be summer. After a four year cycle, pioneering Brit producer Jon Gooch has returned to his UK drum-n-bass alias, Spor. Gooch has been fleshing out his electro-driven moniker, Feed Me, for the past couple of years, kicking off 2019 return with his triumphant third studio album, High Street Creeps. Since then, Feed Me has been releasing one-off singles and a heavyweight collaboration with Flux Pavilion while exploring releasing on new labels like Monstercat and Spinnin’ Records.

Fans haven’t seen the likes of Spor since 2016’s Black Eyed EP, which we proceeded by his game-changing 2015 debut studio album, Caligo. Those four years must have been enough to get the light-hearted melodies out of his system because now Gooch revisits his original production identity with composure, strength, and commitment to style. Like clockwork, he’s traded in one kind of experimental tone for another on his 6-track Anachronic EP.

The wonderful thing about Gooch, and what makes him so hard to pin down, is that while his two aliases possess clearly-focused genre stamps, they are always enigmatic, intertwined, and influenced by another. There are clear Feed Me elements bleeding into the project opener, “In Rixa,” which uses Feed Me’s melodious toplines while going into a darker, more frenetic Spor direction. From the high-tempo breakbeats on “Beam Cannon” and the title track to a dose of tribal on “Your Mind Is Like This Water,” each song is a new exploration while also being a window into where Gooch has been.

A standout on the EP is the melodically focused liquid DnB track, “Count My Blessings,” with its indie-leaning vocal quality that can also be heard on his last Feed Me LP. Like everything Gooch does, every track builds slowly to release, while introducing twists and turns to keep listeners surprised. It’s always an unexpected journey.